When residents of Pacific Grove cast their ballots, they will once again vote on the size of the city council. Measure Z would reduce the current city council size from seven to five members, including the mayor.
The council is divided on whether a reduction in size would benefit the the city.
Council member Debby Beck supports Measure Z. She says it will prepare Pacific Grove for what she believes is coming in the near future.
“We are going to district voting. It's inevitable,” she said after a recent council meeting. “Our school district has gone to district voting.”
She expects the city council will also switch from at-large elections to choosing one member for each district in the city.
At that point, she says, “having five council members and, obviously, a mayor (...) would be beneficial to our community.”
Beck adds she believes a smaller council would bring more competition to future city council races. She says that she does not want to see council races go unchallenged, and she feels that reducing the city council’s size will contribute to more competition.
But fellow council member Joe Amelio disagrees. For starters, he points out voters rejected the same question in 2022. And, Amelio says, the city council has been this size for nearly a century.
“No on Z. And the reason why is, this (council) has been in existence since 1927, and it's always worked well because we have different viewpoints. And, on top of that, we also have diversity on the council. And that’s important.”
Amelio believes that by having six council seats plus a mayor there is a better opportunity for wider diversity on the city council.
If the measure passes, the change will take effect in 2026.
Two years ago the similar effort, Measure O, failed by 13 votes.
